Inside STAT: In Montana, distance is shaping the coronavirus response

THREE HOMES NEAR THE CLARK FORK RIVER IN MISSOULA SHINE IN THE SETTING SUN. (SARA DIGGINS FOR STAT)

When Montana’s governor announced the state’s schools were closing as a social distancing measure to prevent spread of the novel coronavirus, Libby schools superintendent Craig Barringer responded differently than his colleagues in more densely populated states. Two-thirds of the 800 students in his far-flung district probably wouldn’t be able to come to school to collect lunches or homework assignments. That means a 100-mile bus ride to deliver lunch and homework packets to a single fourth-grader. “We’ll do everything we can to make this a little easier on people,” he told STAT contributor Kathleen McLaughlin. That may reflect the character of a state where the government has been remarkably practical, but there remain pockets of mistrust of big government. Read more.